Everyone has a fighting chance
The games media has been on fire this week. The topic, not for the first time, has been Steam Early Access – or more precisely, Peter Molyneux, but we’ll get to that later. Amidst all the chaos of broken promises and players rightfully feeling taken for a ride, we’ve had the chance to play a game that does Early Access right: Red Hook Studios’ Darkest Dungeon. It’s a game with fresh ideas and a sense of style.
What is the end game? This is the quintessential question in the making and maintaining the average Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) game. How will it keep players engaged when they hit level cap while the developers furiously work on the next major patch that will expand or change the static world.
Wargaming has announced that its free to play World of Tanks will be making its way to XBox One later in 2015. WoT just passed its first anniversary since being released for XBox 360 in 2014.
Monolith recently announced a brand new DLC for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. Called "The Bright Lord", the DLC will allow players to take on the role of Celebrimbor, wielder of a Ring, and a worthy opponent to wrest control from Sauron. The campaign will feature ten new missions, the chance to face off against Sauron and a new Challenge mode. We wanted to find out more and had the opportunity to interview the team. Check out what they had to say.
Wednesday night I went on a walkabout of New Britannia with Richard Garriott and Starr Long from the Portalarium team. During that time Richard and Starr showed off what was new in update 14; crafting recipes to include enchanting, a contested point, and two new areas. We also learned what Gordon Lightfoot and Jim Morrison have in common and what the SotA community had to do with that.
Trion Worlds is reporting that its Dallas server farm is currently undergoing a DDoS attack that began at approximately 1:00 pm Pacific today. As of an hour ago, servers running all of Trion’s games are still under attack. Trion is working to remedy the situation but there is not yet any timeline for resolution.
Earlier this week, Artcraft announced that they’ve signed a deal with Voxel Farm to use their technology to power the worlds of Crowfall. Some may immediately think, "oh great, more voxels". But put down the pitchforks. In Crowfall, voxels are not about building random things in the world but rather destroying the very ground you walk upon and tearing down the castles of your enemies.
We were able to chat with ArenaNet’s Roy Conacher and Jon Peters this week about the 9th and newest profession for Guild Wars 2, The Revenant. Debuting briefly at PAX South, with more details being released over the course of this week, the Rev (as I like to call him) is unlike any of the other Heavy Professions in Guild Wars canon so far.
Following last week’s cataclysmic layoffs, the Landmark team has released the latest "Live" video podcast. The initial remarks from Community Manager Colette "Dexella" Murphy and Senior Producer Terry Michaels cover the "change in the company" from SOE to Daybreak Game Company and spend time discussing the layoffs. The teams are moving forward as the rest of the show reinforces. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Square Enix is taking the wraps off a new mobile RPG called Heavenstrike Rivals. The game has been released in other locations throughout the world, but will soon be making its debut in North America and Europe.